We arrived in Nevis on February 3 and grabbed a mooring in front of Sunshine’s off Pinneys Beach. The government preferred boats to use mooring balls rather than an anchor to protect the fragile sea grass. The cost was the same whether you used a ball or not. We paid around $30 US for a week at the Port Authority in Charlestown.
Pinneys Beach was a long stretch with fine grain sand. There were several restaurants, a brewery and a super nice park. One of the most well-known places, besides the Four Season Hotel, was Sunshine’s Bar and Grill.
After we got settled on the mooring ball, the rental car guy from St. Kitts, TJ, assisted us in obtaining a car in Nevis. We talked to a guy named Ray 1-869-662-4624 who brought the car to the dock in Charlestown and completed the paperwork right there. It was easy enough and very economical, $111 US for two days.
So we were set to explore Nevis with Ad and Sue from SV Andira. The island was small with one main road around to circumvent it. Thus, driving was pretty straightforward if you remembered to drive on the left! Google Maps worked great, and we found all the sights on our list.
Nevis, Day One
Montpelier Plantation and Beach
Our first stop was at the plantation where Horatio Nelson, famous for his service in the Royal Navy, married Frances “Fanny” Nisbet, niece of the president of Nevis, John Herbert. Today the remains of the sugar plantation were incorporated into a luxury boutique hotel. The grounds were beautifully landscaped. It was a great way to begin our tour of this verdant tropical island.
A little way up the main road was another boutique hotel, Hermitage Inn, which boasted of having the oldest wooden Greathouse (350 yrs old) in the Caribbean. Presently the house was used as a sitting room and dining room. It was built of iron wood and had survived numerous hurricanes and storms. Among the tropical landscape gardens were small cottage guest rooms. This hotel was a step back in time!
Nevis Heritage Village
The houses in this Village were created as a museum for tourists and locals to understand the history of Nevis.
The Nevis Naturally Website describes the Village:
“The Nevisian Heritage Village administered by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, largely depicts the evolution of Nevisian social history through housing.
The houses, dating from the Carib Indian era, are replicas and are furnished with antiques and relics of their relevant periods. The display includes the blacksmith’s shop, rum shop, and the shoe-maker’s shop, along with the dwelling houses. To complete this traditional village setting are “backyard” gardens, beautiful flower gardens and various species of indigenous plants and shrubs some adorning the typical “estate yard” ruins. And, there’s even an area for animal rearing.”
The cost of entry and for a tour was $4 US a person. We didn’t mind assisting with the development of this unique site and the tour was very informative. Not only did each house portray a part of history but inside there was period furniture and household items. The manicured grounds included fruit trees and other vegetation that were use by islanders even today.
This Inn was recommended by cruisers and tour books as a place not to miss for lunch (or dinner). Therefore, we made a point to be near it when lunchtime arrived. The recommendations were spot on! The Inn was located 1000 feet above sea level among a 40-acre garden. Again, its history was a converted sugar plantation. The setting was absolutely perfect for a relaxing lunch, and the food was delectable as well.
This estate was established in the 1720s and functioned as a sugar mill until 1958. The great house, cistern and windmill remain, but according to several websites there have been archeological excavations around the property. We took a peek of the estate from the gate as we decided we did not need another sugar plantation tour at this time.
Herbert’s Beach
On the northeast side of the island was the secluded Herbert’s Beach. It was on the Atlantic coast but received some protection by a reef close to shore. We saw a man swimming in the water, and it didn’t seem that the surf or wind moved him one inch the whole time we watched him. His wife on shore said when they visit Nevis, they come to this beach every day because the water was clear, easy to snorkel, and it was never crowded.
The next beach we stopped at was Oualie Beach on the north side of the island. This beach faced The Narrows which was the 2-mile strip of water between Nevis and St. Kitts. There was a ferry that ran frequently between Cockleshell Beach on St. Kitts and Oualie Beach on Nevis. I did not think this beach was as pretty as Cockleshell Beach. So we didn’t linger for long.
Our last stop on today’s tour was at Yachtsman Grill. I had read that this was a good place for pizza. So we stopped to determine if we wanted to come back tomorrow for lunch. The restaurant was situated on the beach but was much more elegant than a traditional beach bar. Their wine cellar was extensive. Yet the prices seemed quite reasonable. We all got a drink to cool off after our long day of sightseeing and it was determined that Sue’s and Ben’s strawberry smoothie was the best!
We drove back into town and went to the IGA for some provisions. This store was well-stocked and after getting some produce earlier from a roadside vendor, we all found almost more than the dinghy would hold! Ha!
Luckily, we located a parking place close to the dock which made carrying everything easier. The “dingy dock” was really a large concrete pier where cruise tenders and ferries dock. One side of the dock close to the shore was available for small fishing boats and dinghies. There was security around all the time. So they preferred that you not lock up your dinghy in case they had to move it while you were away. The dock was quite high, but luckily on one side (not the side you tied to) there was a ladder where Ben let us off and picked us up. The dock required a longer line to reach up to a large post and a stern anchor to keep you from bashing into the concrete. It was a challenge, but we worked it out!
Nevis, Day Two
Before taking off in the rental car, we decided to walk around Charlestown a bit as it was a quaint town with many historic buildings still in use. Many buildings are built with volcanic stone on the bottom floor and wooden structure on the second floor.
Charlestown, Nevis
Museum of Nevis History and Hamilton House
The two-story museum and the Hamilton House were supposed to the be the “birthplace” of Alexander Hamilton. But further research in 2021, Discovering Hamilton(Newton, Michael E.) indicated that neither house nor the grounds were related to Alexander Hamilton. Nevertheless, the period structures were perfect for housing the museums, one about Nevis History and one about Hamilton. We didn’t view the museums, but we enjoyed the grounds.
It was interesting that there were also ruins of a Fort Charles on St. Kitts, but this fort was established in 1628. While the fort was mainly in ruins, the grounds were well kept, as it was still a tourist destination. Part of the old wall, cistern, powder magazine and several cannons were all that remained.
Bath House Hotel and Hot Springs
This was the first hotel in the Caribbean built in 1778. It was very popular for its healing mineral baths. “A who’s who of politicians, crowned heads and the merely moneyed were drawn by its lavish gardens, fanciful dining rooms and hot thermal springs.” (see link above for more information). Today the hot springs pools were still available for taking a dip at a location below the hotel.
To end our tour of Nevis, we went back to the Yachtsman Grill where Ben and I had pizza that was delicious, and Ad and Sue had grouper sandwiches that were HUGE!
Now we were back on the boat trying to determine our next move. Do we go back to St. Kitts to wait out the next blow or hunker down here on Nevis. Uhmmmmm!
Stay tuned to see where we land next….
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Would love to follow your adventures!
Thanks! I’m glad you are enjoying the blog. Its been a fun sailing season!